OAKLAND — Cory Ashby’s stellar performance on the mound and equally impressive contributions at the plate allowed the fourth-seeded Southern Rams’ baseball team to advance past the No. 5 Fort Hill Sentinels in the Class 1A West Region Section I quarterfinal at Southern last Friday.

That led to Saturday’s sectional semifinal bout where the Rams would proceed to give the top-seeded Northern Huskies all they could handle before falling in a wild game in Accident.

Fort Hill at Southern

Ashby gave up just two hits on the mound and belted a first-inning, two-run bomb to guide the Rams to a 5-1 victory against the Sentinels.

Fort Hill was unable to find an answer for Ashby as he accounted for three of Southern’s five runs. He also recorded an RBI single for the Rams in the fifth to close out the scoring.

The Sentinels were also held to just two hits thanks to Ashby’s complete-game performance on the bump. He would strike out seven and yield just one run which came on a third-inning sacrifice fly by Keifer Stafford.

The biggest sequence of the game came when Ashby had to deal with the bases loaded and a one-run lead in the top of the third, but he got out of the jam.

Dustin Green would seize the momentum for the Rams for good with an RBI single in the fourth to drive in Brandon Lucas who finished with a single. Hayden McLaughlin also recorded a fourth-inning RBI when Lucas Root raced home following an error. McLaughlin would finish with a double and a single.

Brayden Poling led Fort Hill (4-11) with a double while teammate Logan Johnson laced a single.

Southern at Northern

The sectional semifinal between Southern and Northern was a wild back-and-forth affair which featured 25 combined runs, 25 combined hits, and two home runs (one from both teams).

In the end, Northern emerged victorious, 14-11, after Carsyn King tossed the final strikeout to launch the Huskies to the sectional championship game while eliminating the Rams on a sunny Saturday afternoon.

Ashby, just like against Fort Hill, opened the scoring with a two-run bomb in the first inning. The Huskies got a run back in the bottom of the first before taking a 3-2 lead in the second when Bryce Jones smacked a two-run double down the third-base line.

Brandon Mersing and Ashby answered for the Rams in the top of the third with an RBI double and RBI single, respectively, to put the visitors up 4-3. Northern’s Sam Beeman wouldn’t allow Southern to celebrate for too long, however, as he launched a two-run homer to give the Huskies a 5-4 lead heading into the fourth.

The lone run of the fourth came from a Nate Tasker single to tie the game, and then the Rams took the lead in the top of the fifth when the Huskies were unable to turn a double play which allowed Ashby to make it home.

The bottom of the fifth inning would be when the Huskies finally gained full control as they plated five runs and forced a pitching change for the Rams.

Northern would eventually push the lead to 14-7 heading into the final inning, but the resilient Rams rallied to cut the deficit to 14-11 and had runners on the corners with two outs and the tying run at the plate before King recorded the final out.

Beeman led the Huskies with a double, single, and a two-run homer. Bradie Moore started on the mound for the Huskies and helped his cause at the plate with three RBIs on two singles. Elliott Schilpp added three singles and an RBI, Peyton Carr knocked a couple base hits and registered an RBI, Jake Rush logged an RBI double and single, and Jones rounded out the Huskies’ offense with three RBIs and a double.

Joey McComas recorded two singles for the Rams who were narrowly out-hit 13-12.

Southern ended its season 8-12, and Northern would go on to win the sectional championship against the Allegany Campers.

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